First emitter swap: Sofirn C01S Orange with LH351D 2700K

[TimMc]

I bought a few C01S flashlights and some emitters from Sofirn to have a go at swapping emitters.

Thanks oweban, Matt Smith and all for sharing so much info.

Here’s my first attempt.

Parts used:
Sofirn C01S Orange
LH351D 2700K
Leaded Solder Paste
Solder
Thermal paste

Tools used:
Soldering Iron
Isopropyl alcohol
Hemostat forceps in a Panavise
Heatgun
Tweezers

Steps:

1. Unscrew the head.
2. Use some hemostat forceps to grip the thread and twist the head open. There might be red loctite.
3. Desolder the wires from the board.
4. Lift the board out.
5. Clean the thermal paste off the board with isopropyl alcohol.

View post on imgur.com

6. Setup an area with a Panavise holding Hemostat forceps above a heatgun.
7. Place the board carefully in the hemostats.

8. Heat the board and remove the LED with tweezers. Wait for the board to cool down.

View post on imgur.com

9. Add solder paste to the board.

10. Place the LH351D 2700K emitter on top of the paste with the “notch” facing negative.

I’ve omitted about 3 videos showing 4-5 failed attempts where I didn’t heat the solder paste up enough and kept knocking the LED off the board. Notice how the first LH351D 2700K is sitting on the bag and I’m using the second one below. :person_facepalming:

11. Heat the board and press the LED down carefully with tweezers. I used a wireless remote to turn the heatgun on and off.

View post on imgur.com

12. Apply a bit of thermal paste to the pill.
13. Place the board back in the pill.
14. Attach the wires with solder.
15. Screw the head back on with the TIR lens and reflector inside.

The result:

[Boaz]

Nice post .

Now I want one

[jon_slider]

@TimMc

outstanding pictorial, congrat!

for future, you may want to remove the pearls of solder that are squeezed out and stuck to the edge of the LED… wont matter until there is a centering ring involved… the pearls interfere with seating flush… Im sure you would figure that out right away.

The pearls are easy to push off, when the board is still warm.

[netprince]

Thanks for the write-up… very interesting

[TimMc]

@jon_slider

The pearls are easy to push off, when the board is still warm.

Thanks! I might leave this one as it is for now.

[TimMc]

Is there an easy way to slice the dome to fit the LED under the TIR optic?

[thefreeman]

@TimMc

Is there an easy way to slice the dome to fit the LED under the TIR optic?

Have you seen this Video made by contactcr ?

Nice mod by the way.

An unrelated question : how did you got the Imgur embed video to auto play ? Whe I put the HTML embed code it doesn’t autoplay.

[TimMc]

@thefreeman

Have you seen this Video made by contactcr ?

Thanks! I haven’t seen that before.

@thefreeman

An unrelated question : how did you got the Imgur embed video to auto play ? Whe I put the HTML embed code it doesn’t autoplay.

I used imgur in Firefox on a PC. From the album page Sofirn C01S Orange with LH351D 2700K - Album on Imgur I hovered over a video, hovered over a down-arrow and clicked “Get share links”. I then copied the “Embed in HTML” code.

I had to re-upload the videos the other day because imgur stripped the audio. Imgur gave me the option to leave the audio in when I re-uploaded.

[TimMc]

Slice LH351D dome to 1mm with 1mm washer… :nerd_face:

LH351D slicing measurements : output, tint, tint shift, beam profile, intensity.

After putting some sliced LH351Ds in a light I was curious of the effect on the beam, and especially depending on slicing height, I sliced them the closest to the phosphor layer, as I heard people do, but didn’t really know if that was the best, so here we go. Slicing height = thickness of the washer placed on the MCPCB to guide the razor blade. 0.85mm is as close as possible to the phosphor layer. Pictures can be clicked on to open them bigger, on mobile if quality is disastrous, request desk…

[ReManG]

Does the LH351D fit under the optic without slicing it?

[TimMc]

@ReManG

Does the LH351D fit under the optic without slicing it?

It seems to fit flush. The white piece is a tight fit around the base of the LED. When I drop the optic into the white holder, it fits without appearing to be balancing on top of the dome. It might be pressing against the dome when I tighten the head. I tried checking the dome and there are no visible markings from the TIR.

[ReManG]

@TimMc

@ReManG

Does the LH351D fit under the optic without slicing it?

It seems to fit flush. The white piece is a tight fit around the base of the LED. When I drop the optic into the white holder, it fits without appearing to be balancing on top of the dome. It might be pressing against the dome when I tighten the head. I tried checking the dome and there are no visible markings from the TIR.

Thanks, I know it fits fine under the carlco triple optics for me, but the smaller TIR’s can be minimal. Nice mod, have some 2700K’s on the way with my C01 order, gonna do this to a couple. I have one in my Ti3 and it is great. I love the floodiness from the LH351D’s.

EDIT: I have the C01S already at home, ordered the C01 that just came out and tacked some emitters from Sofirn onto that order.

[Serlite]

Nice work - definitely a lot cleaner than my first (nearly disastrous) emitter swap!
And a good choice of emitter too! I’m waiting on some of my own in the mail.

[TimMc]

@ReManG

I love the floodiness from the LH351D’s.

I have another C01S on the way. I might put a LH351D 4000K in it depending on what the SST20 beam looks like. :partying_face:

[TimMc]

@jon_slider

for future, you may want to remove the pearls of solder that are squeezed out and stuck to the edge of the LED… wont matter until there is a centering ring involved… the pearls interfere with seating flush…

I just noticed this now while trying to confirm whether the TIR was pressing down on the dome. The white holder (oversized centering ring? :-P) has crushed the solder blobs to fit flush.

[TimMc]

@Serlite

I’m waiting on some of my own in the mail.

Unscrewing the head can be tricky if heaps of glue was used. I still haven’t removed the head from my C01S Non Ano. I accidentally melted the TIR with a heat gun while trying to soften the glue.

This orange C01S opened up with some hemostat forceps and no heat.

I was lucky with one C01R where the glue wasn’t applied properly. I could remove it with my fingers. This might be a bad thing for those who don’t want the head to accidentally unscrew. :laughing:

[Serlite]

@TimMc

@Serlite

I’m waiting on some of my own in the mail.

Unscrewing the head can be tricky if heaps of glue was used. I still haven’t removed the head from my C01S Non Ano. I accidentally melted the TIR with a heat gun while trying to soften the glue.

This orange C01S opened up with some hemostat forceps and no heat.

I was lucky with one C01R where the glue wasn’t applied properly. I could remove it with my fingers. This might be a bad thing for those who don’t want the head to accidentally unscrew. :laughing:

Haha yes, I recall seeing a couple people mention that when they tried to turn off their C01S, the bezel unscrewed instead of the head. Make sure you screw that back down as tight as possible!

[ReManG]

Loctite or a wrap of teflon tape can help. Minimal loctite if you want to get back into it.